In short
Fast Money (8/17/26) covers: memory/DRAM stock rally dynamics, gold’s potential move above $5,000/oz tied to China and dollar flows, Meta’s youth-safety trial in California, plus other market movers (SpaceX, Nike, and Home Depot/Lowe’s earnings).
Guests/desk
Tim Seymour (hedge fund manager), Steve Grasso (market analyst), Dan Nathan (trader/analyst), Guy Adami (market commentator). Reporter guest: Kate Rooney (CNBC). Guest on gold/dollar: Jens Nordvik, President of Vanda and founder of Exante Data. Reporter guest: Julie Boorstin (Meta trial details). Reporter guest: Alex Sherman (Lakers stake sale).
Key claims
Memory can rebound but “not in a straight line”; fundamentals/cycle visibility are challenging; other semis (Taiwan Semi, NVIDIA) may be more durable. Anthropic ARR reportedly $65B run-rate (vs OpenAI $40B), but competition/price cuts raise profitability risk. Gold upside driven by renewed China/spec/ETF flows and a weaker dollar. Meta faces potentially huge damages; states seek algorithm changes (e.g., infinite scroll/notifications limits, well-being prioritization, age/time restrictions). Examples: Sandisk +9%, DRAM ETF +5%; Nike near 12-year lows; Home Depot/Lowe’s consumer affordability backdrop.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOMemory Stocks Surge
0:00 to 0:22
Discussion on the recent increases in memory stock prices and market dynamics.
“Mazda has been named Consumer Reports' safest new car brand.”
Memory Stocks Surge
1:46 to 3:40
Discussion on the recent increases in memory stock prices and market dynamics.
“A round-hilled DRAM ETF jumping over 5 percent, hitting its highest level in more than a month.”
Investment Strategies in Memory
3:44 to 5:52
Hosts discuss strategies for investing in the memory sector amid volatility.
“I would be chasing places within chasing.”
Taiwan Semiconductor and NVIDIA Insights
5:55 to 8:13
Analysis of Taiwan Semiconductor's position and NVIDIA's evolving business model.
“And I think Taiwan Semi really, forget all these deals that are getting cut in a circular fashion.”
Anthropic's Revenue Growth and AI Landscape
8:16 to 11:40
Insights into Anthropic's impressive revenue growth and the future of AI.
“This is the sort of name that you could see a strategic buyer or you could see, you know, a financial buyer, that sort of thing.”
Challenges in AI Market Dynamics
11:41 to 13:39
Discussion of potential challenges and market dynamics affecting AI companies.
“Basically, he said, you know, to show the benefits of AI, let's cure cancer.”
Future Outlook for AI and Revenue Predictions
13:40 to 14:01
Exploration of future revenue predictions and market cap expectations for AI firms.
“To your point about profitability, you know, we're seeing a price war right now.”
Valuations and Market Dynamics
14:01 to 17:44
Discussion on AI company valuations and market conditions influencing them.
“But, you know, at the end of the day, they're targeting now a$2 trillion, this is Anthropic, a$2 trillion market cap.”
Valuations and Market Dynamics
18:32 to 18:59
Discussion on AI company valuations and market conditions influencing them.
“Discounts not available in all states or situations.”
China's Economic Landscape
19:08 to 25:01
Analysis of China's economic momentum and its implications for global markets.
“A new batch of data showing China's economy lost momentum in July.”
Show all 20 chapters
Japan's Economic Policies and Risks
25:01 to 28:11
Exploring Japan's fiscal policies and their impact on the currency and equity markets.
“I know it's not supposed to happen, but between their fiscal and their monetary policy, unlike any other time in their history, Takeichi is great for the economy, for fiscal spending, but it's the wrong time.”
Nike's Market Struggles
28:24 to 30:29
Analysis of Nike's declining stock and market strategies.
“Closely followed retail analyst Matt Boss at J.P.”
Meta's Legal Challenges
30:29 to 31:42
Discussion on Meta's upcoming legal issues and their implications.
“We had an analyst on a while ago on closing bill overtime about Nike, and they're going through sort of globally all the competitors in the local markets.”
Youth Safety Allegations Against Meta
31:42 to 34:13
Exploration of the allegations against Meta regarding youth safety.
“Could the next major social media addiction case mark a watershed moment for the industry?”
Market Reactions to Meta's Challenges
34:13 to 36:20
Investors' perspectives on Meta's stock and potential future.
“Now, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri are both expected to testify, though, Melissa, we're not sure just when yet.”
Lakers Stake Sale Controversy
37:43 to 42:01
Breaking news regarding the Buss family's stake in the Lakers.
“As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, CNBC spotlights the companies that rose with the nation and continue to shape its future.”
SpaceX's Market Movements and Short Interest
42:01 to 44:10
Discussion on SpaceX's recent stock performance, major investments, and market sentiment.
“Now let's get to SpaceX firing on all cylinders to start the week.”
Teasing Upcoming Retail Earnings
44:10 to 44:36
The hosts preview the upcoming earnings reports from Home Depot and Lowe's.
“Melissa was saying that Elgin Baylor was her favorite Los Angeles Laker.”
Home Depot's Challenges and Market Conditions
44:36 to 45:53
Analysis of Home Depot's performance amid high mortgage rates and market conditions.
“Retail earnings season kicks off tomorrow with Home Depot before the bell shares up nearly 14 percent in the last three months.”
Final Trades and Opinions
45:53 to 46:53
The hosts share their final stock picks and opinions on various companies.
“Thanks for watching Fast Money, Mad Money with Jim Kramer starts right now.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:02Mazda has been named Consumer Reports' safest new car brand. It starts with our approach. Every Mazda comes standard with proactive safety features. So you're more aware of what's around you, more focused on the road ahead, and ready before problems ever start. Mazda. More of what matters most to you. Go to mazdausa.com to learn more. Consumer Reports does not endorse or promote any product. Say you always wanted to have a backyard oasis. Here's the thing. If you get smart with your money, you can do things like that. With Empower, you can start making the most out of your money so you can go out and live a little.
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1:02Tim Seymour:Live from the Nasdaq market site in the heart of New York City's Times Square, this is Fast Money. Here's what's on tap tonight. Making memories, storage stocks, and rally mode today as the major players try to claw back to new records. What's behind the moves and what's the mean for the rest of the tech trade? And the latest test for Meta, a potentially blockbuster trial about to get underway in California. What's at stake for the social media giant and why the consequences could be astronomical. Plus, SpaceX shares get off the launch pad. Nike runs to nearly 12-year lows. And retail gets ready to kick off its earnings season.
1:34Tim Seymour:What we can expect from Home Depot and Lowe's this week and the stories they could tell about the state of the consumer. I'm Melissa Lee. Come to you live from Studio B at the NASDAQ. On the desk tonight, Tim Seymour, Steve Grasso, Dan Nathan, and Guy Adami. We start off with those big moves in the memory names. A round-hilled DRAM ETF jumping over 5 percent, hitting its highest level in more than a month. Sandisk, among the biggest winners, up almost 9 percent. It's six straight day of gains. U.S. listed shares of SK Hynek's posted their highest close since July 21st. The latest rally coming after a report, U.S.
2:05Tim Seymour:Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is urging Apple not to buy chips from China. But will the demand be enough to drive these names back to new highs? It's amazing. It's like, go back to the memory names, go back to the Remember, nothing shakes the investor. No, but in a straight line, I think the answer to that question is no. I think, listen, absolutely there's a chance that they all make new highs, but it's not going to be a straight line there. And this is now going on two and a half for three months. All these names, Micron, Sandisk, Western Dig, you pick 8 % to 10 % moves two or three times a week.
2:37Up and down has been the norm. So I think if you think it's just going to continue on this trajectory higher, unabated for, what did you say, five days? I just think that's wrong.
2:44Tim Seymour:I mean, it's amazing that in theory, the leverage has been taken out, at least on the South Korea exchanges. You're making you're sort of joking, but I think not joking, really, since you're the ambassador, that every morning you check the KOSPI first.
2:55Karen Finerman:None of that's funny to me, Mel. Don't even joke about Korea. My goodness. Yeah, I mean, I think it's important. Absolutely. And I have some fresh Korea stats. I mean, in other words, the KOSPI rallied again, two and a half percent. And so, you know, you've put in about a 33 percent bounce off of where a lot of this stuff bounced back on July 29th. And I'll leave it to all the really talented chart people we have on this show. But the fundamentals are challenging for me, even in a world where I believe the demand is there. I don't know if there's any disputing the demand. And I understand we've elongated the cycle.
3:31Karen Finerman:But I just don't know that in another year, that cycle that requires the 28 and the 29 purchases that have been already and the deals that have been cut. I don't know we're going to have the same demand on memory. That's part of what it is for me. It's certainly not the part of the trade that I would be chasing. I would be chasing places within chasing. I don't ever chase Dan. But I mean, you know, it's a case where I think you have places within semiconductors that look a lot more interesting to me than memory.
4:00Melissa Lee:Thank you. Yeah, I'm going to chase this, Tim. I'm going to chase this commentary. You know, a couple of things here, right? And I think the point that you made is really important. We know what the backlogs look like. We know what the RPO. The idea that they're going to expand dramatically is probably not great from these levels. Now, they can continue to beat upside in the near term. And I think that's one of the reasons why that stock went up a thousand percent in such a short period of time. But it also got cut in half. Right. And so when you think about this bounce right here, I don't think it is incorporating the potential for double, triple ordering.
4:31Melissa Lee:I know that, you know, a lot of folks think that if you have these contracts, you take them to the bank, that sort of thing. we've seen in past tech cycles, especially in very cyclical things, that's not exactly how it always goes, right? So I think when you look at this name and you look at Micron and you look at the access to whether it's high bandwidth memory or some of this stuff, I mean, at the end of the day, what is it pricing right here? And the idea of it going back to those prior highs, it certainly can get there. But make no mistake about it, it is likely to get cut in half again at some point.
5:01Melissa Lee:And we talk about this all the time, where if you were buying this on that last kind of push up for that last month, and then you start averaging down because you think it's just a pullback, and then you find yourself with it down 50%, you probably make some mistakes puking it out at some point. So this is just a really hard name right now. I think it's a hard space in general. I think there's probably other ways to express this view. And I think Tim's point is there probably are some semis that have more durable visibility than some of these memory names. So I think it's just a lack of assets that people want to buy.
5:31So they go from software to hardware to semis to memory. And now memory is the du jour name. When I look at it technically, 1254 is the high, recent high. The low is 737. So the 50 % retracement is basically 1 ,000. We're right there. So I would not be a buyer here unless that level holds.
5:52Tim Seymour:More interesting than memory, like what?
5:54Karen Finerman:Well, I think Taiwan Semi is very interesting. And I think Taiwan Semi really, forget all these deals that are getting cut in a circular fashion. Taiwan Semi is essentially the white label for some of the most important chip companies in the world and for some of the companies. And again, that chart is one, as I stare at it here, it is one that essentially you've had a 50 percent retracement and you're kind of back around that 50. But I think and I like NVIDIA here. I understand that there's a dynamic that is very concerning. Is NVIDIA now a holding company? Does it trade at a discount? I mean, these are things that I think you have to think about, even though I'm comfortable with NVIDIA here.
6:32Tim Seymour:NVIDIA is not the NVIDIA of a year ago. No, it's cheaper than it was a year ago. I'm not going to say about you, Guy. We all are the same people we are a year ago. I'm sorry. Tim is right. Think about that for a second. But I'm just talking about it in terms of the financing aspect. And, you know, like all the loans that it's extended, the investments it's made. It's a different kind of company. And, you know, that interview that Becky did, I think it was last, whenever it was, a week ago or so ago. I mean, that to me was either a very encouraging thing or a little bit of a scary thing in terms of the amount of people that are sort of retelling a story.
7:09Not retelling a story, but just adding a chapter to a story we've heard about for a long time. So I'm somewhat on the fence. But to your point, NVIDIA is cheaper, but it is morphed into a different company. Tim talks about that all the time. And I think through his lens, it's probably a better company than it was a year ago.
7:24Melissa Lee:I think investors are obviously looking at other places. And the bounce off of software, I think, off the bottoms, I think is really interesting. So I think if you want to play AI, there's other places in which to do it. And if you think that, you know, Workday, for instance, is going to be taken private by, you know, Silver Lake or one of these big private equity companies, they're thinking about AI. You know, you can't just retool a SaaS company in this new world order that we are living in and think that you're going to be able to take it back to the public markets and get a higher multiple for it.
7:54Melissa Lee:So I look at something like a Zoom, for instance, you know, and you think about some of the ways in which these companies are trying to innovate, add AI tools. You could say that they're kind of table stakes. Well, Google Meets does that. And, you know, Microsoft Teams does that. But these installed bases, I think, are really important. And you look at this company, you know, it's got a great balance sheet. It's got a lot of cash. You know, it's a big Karen name. It's got no debt. This is the sort of name that you could see a strategic buyer or you could see, you know, a financial buyer, that sort of thing.
8:24Melissa Lee:So I just think there are other places that you could probably play right now, not in the eye of the storm, not in the most controversial names. You know, you know, it's odd that the data center moratorium that we have in New York, it's probably most likely are four other states. I think Virginia and Oregon and Ohio were the most likely to have it. So they sort of sneaked this data center in, and the original buildout was$250 billion. Investors balked. They got it down to$120 billion. And what they were able to settle on was$105 billion. So this whole circular finance that's been going on with NVIDIA, I think shareholders are actually losing patience with it by that reasoning.
9:03And the market most likely is at the end of their line with having the patience for it as well.
9:09Tim Seymour:Just quickly to go back to you, do you think NVIDIA looks like a better company today than it did a year ago?
9:13Karen Finerman:I think it is less tethered to, you know, GPUs and at a time when we're not sure that GPUs are the way to the future. I don't love the fact that they have their fortunes riding on three companies that we're not so sure about.
9:31Tim Seymour:Meantime, a couple of rare appearances from two AI leaders as the industry continues to battle negative perceptions. Plus, some new reporting ahead of Anthropics IPO. Kate Rooney's got the latest developments. Kate. Hey, Melissa. So we're now hearing from two sources that Anthropik's annualized revenue run rate hit$65 billion. This was as of the end of July. It would mark a sevenfold increase from just about a year ago. This was in a weekend update from what I'm hearing to existing investors. Anthropik declined to comment on some of these numbers. It does speak to, though, some of the momentum ahead of what is a highly anticipated IPO for Anthropik.
10:06Tim Seymour:The company, as we've reported, has been holding meetings with bankers and investors ahead of that. And listed, I should say, these numbers are for existing investors, so sort of separate from the banker conversations. Anthropik's last revenue run rate that was reported back in May was$47 billion. So that gives you a sense of the growth rate here. And then in 2025, the company brought in$10 billion for the entire year. They also shared over the weekend, from what I'm hearing, some preliminary Q2 stats,$11.5 billion for revenue. This is preliminary as of the second quarter. Again, according to two sources, its biggest rival, OpenAI, as we reported on Friday, last hit$40 billion in ARR.
10:45Tim Seymour:We also reported that OpenAI was holding sort of similar quarterly updates with investors. Greg Brockman, from what I'm told, was in the room and behind the scenes has been talking about cybersecurity being a huge opportunity for enterprise and driving sales there. We did hear from Greg Brockman earlier on Squawk Box in an exclusive interview. Here's what he said about some of the risk.
11:05Karen Finerman:We're learning that human written code is full of vulnerabilities, that there is tech debt that's building up over time and that we can actually the same tools that are going to be in, you know, potentially used to find those vulnerabilities and exploit them. They can actually find them first and fix them.
11:23Tim Seymour:We also heard from Anthropic CEO Dario Amadei in a very rare tweet. He doesn't go on social media much. This was over the weekend. He addressed some of the widespread criticism about his alleged pessimism around AI. He actually argued he was more balanced about the risks versus the benefit. It's quite a long thread, though, Mel. I won't read the whole thing, but kind of missed the days of 150 characters for Twitter. I'm getting a lot of long CEO rants. TLDR, we need one for the tweet. Thanks, Kate. Kate Rooney. Basically, he said, you know, to show the benefits of AI, let's cure cancer. Like, let's actually put forth to the public a use case that is beneficial to everybody.
12:03Tim Seymour:Because I think right now there are some questions about who benefits the most, what's it going to do to society, what's it going to do to jobs, et cetera, et cetera.
12:11Karen Finerman:And it may not be the models themselves that are going to benefit them. In other words, I mean that revenue run rate. And it's hard to believe that this doesn't get some commoditized. I understand the sophistication on an enterprise level is going to vary by company, by sector. But look, these run rates, a sevenfold increase on an annualized basis is great. And we're probably going to hear that. Could that annualize it 100 billion by the end of the year based upon the last month's numbers? But at some point, I think the competitive landscape. What do I know? But I would think 27 is going to be very difficult to have that kind of a growth rate.
12:47You know, it's a great listen, cure cancer, all those different things. That would be amazing. It's probably in the cards at some point. But what we're tasked to do is try to figure out, you know, our company is going to get the return on invested capital on the back of this. And right now it's not entirely clear that they will. Now, the market is still rewarding them, although the last couple of weeks we've seen some signs that maybe not so much. You know, maybe the spend is going to be penalized going forward. We'll see. But everything, as you said, as Tim said, hinges on basically two companies.
13:13It's NVIDIA on one end, but it's open AI smack in the middle of the entire thing. And if there's any deterioration in either revenue or valuation, I think that has a pretty significant effect on the rest of the stock market.
13:25Tim Seymour:And will the backlash actually result in longer timelines, result in higher costs to do all these projects? I mean, that's sort of the other, you know, facet to this whole concern about capex spending. It's not just the actual dollars, but also the backlash these companies will face.
13:38Melissa Lee:Yeah, and we don't have a lot of transparency on those numbers either, right? To your point about profitability, you know, we're seeing a price war right now. Make no mistake about it. I mean, both OpenAI and Anthropic, when they released their latest models, they dropped their prices fairly dramatically. And then you throw on what's going on with the Chinese open source and open way models. They're putting pressure on these models. And so, yes, if one of these companies has the ability to have some massive breakthrough, then you're going to see valuations that go to the stratosphere. But, you know, at the end of the day, they're targeting now a$2 trillion, this is Anthropic, a$2 trillion market cap.
14:16Melissa Lee:That's not so crazy in this environment. We just saw SpaceX have a$2 trillion market cap right after their IPO. And some of the numbers that came out over the weekend, and again, this is not confirmed, that they're expecting to have$200 billion in revenue at the end of 2028. And think about SpaceX. They don't have a lot of revenue transparency or visibility because Starlink, yes, it's a great business, but who knows when that gets saturated. XAI, who knows? That's a black box. So, you know, at the end of the day, if you're thinking about some of these numbers, they were to bring this company public in October, you know, you can see this thing getting to a$2 billion market cap.
14:54Melissa Lee:I'm not saying it deserves to be there, but you can see that happening. And they also have Cursor, too. Those are the two. Starlink and Cursor are the ones that actually make the revenue. But when you look at the per-token deflation, it's already happened with XAI or Grok, where there are 90 % discounts in their latest model. So everything that Dan said, it's happening real time.
15:12Tim Seymour:But you're using so much more. Yeah, we're going to make it up in volume. I've heard that a lot in business. You are, but at a certain point you don't need to use all of that volume and there's only a couple of customers who can afford that volume.
15:25Karen Finerman:I was just looking through our rundown because I don't want to get ahead of the show. Maybe something that I should have listened to. But I mean, I don't know where we're having the conversation about investment grade issuance that's monstrous and that's never been on a record level. And it speaks to what you're talking about, Melissa, which is that the cost for all of this is enormous. By the way, the high-grade issuance market across the board is competing with hyperscalers. But we just had a record number. We're having a record year. We're well past where we were in COVID. And it just, at some point, this is a massive, massive story.
16:00Karen Finerman:Rates are going higher around the world for other reasons. And that hypers, well, Now, AI CapEx is leading at all higher.
16:07Tim Seymour:Yeah. Where are we on the 10-year today? 472. Where did it close? Is that right? 472. Thank you. I pay attention. Cheapest thing you can do. And, you know, we've been saying for a while, I think collectively, that yields are going higher. And they're not going higher for the right reasons here, folks. And today, at least, the market seems to care. And the fact that we closed here and the TLT is at lows we haven't seen in probably a decade signifies to me that 5 % is not a pipe dream at this point.
Read the full transcript
16:31Melissa Lee:Yeah. And to Tim's point, you know, the Wall Street Journal had a great article yesterday, I think, about all the off balance sheet debt that's used to finance. It's getting to about two trillion dollars. And when you think about the yields, I think the average yield on that is about five and a half percent. So you are being very competitive with the 10 year yield, which is supposed to be the risk free rate. Microsoft has a higher credit rating than the U.S. does. So think about that. So you can get maybe five, five and a quarter or something like that with some of the Microsoft debt. It's going to be higher for the meta and Amazon's going higher and the neoclouds, that sort of thing.
17:05Melissa Lee:Some of those are above Oracle. Obviously, they're getting close to 9 percent. So you could see a lot of competition with U.S. treasuries, which wouldn't be a great thing on the yield front.
17:14Tim Seymour:Coming up, a big dollar move brewing. Is there more downside ahead for the greenback? Well, your next guest says the move could send gold prices soaring back above 5K. Plus, a Nike nosedive inside the stock slumped at 12-year lows. And what the sportswear giant needs to do to find its footing once again. Don't go anywhere. Fast Money is back in two.
17:34This is Fast Money with Melissa Lee right here on CNBC.
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19:08Tim Seymour:Welcome back to Fast Money. A new batch of data showing China's economy lost momentum in July. Retail sales rising six-tenths of a percent. Missing estimates for 1.5 percent growth. Industrial output also coming in below expectations. For more on what this means for the global economy and the dollar, We're joined on set by Vanda, President Jens Nordvik. He's also the founder of Exante Data. Jens, always good to see you. So it's interesting because China seems to have like a two-speed sort of economy. Domestically, it's terrible. And then exports are fine. And then you have like the AI models, which are scaring everybody with the competitiveness there.
19:44Tim Seymour:So how do you assess where we are with China and what their grand plan here is? I would say exports are more than fine. Like, you just look around the world. Like, we can't really see it in the U.S. because we don't have Chinese cars here, but you travel to different countries around the world. Every single one. It's just moving so fast. Like, compared to what Japan did in the 80s, like, Japan was viewed as, like, taking over the world in cars, right? But the speed of China is moving in these EVs is way, way faster than Japan ever did. So can't underestimate that. And going back to the currency question, right, We have this weird situation where the economy looks weak, domestic demand is soft, real estate is terrible, and the currency just continues to grind stronger and stronger because it's a unique situation.
20:29The trade surplus is enormous. They have an enormous trade surplus, and the currency continues to trade stronger, even if the economy doesn't look that hard. We're used to thinking about, OK, monetary policies support the currency, but China's is different. It's the flip side of what's going on in Japan, but all roads lead to gold on the back of this. And you're starting to see it in a pretty meaningful way over the last two weeks or so. The move in gold, I think, shouldn't alarm people, but it should have people paying attention to what's really going on here. Well, I guess it depends on whether you're long or short, whether you're alarmed.
20:59But I think what's so interesting about gold is that we've had an incredibly flow-driven environment since 24. Chinese flows have been important. The retail flow coming in has been important. And then we had a huge washout from March up until a couple of weeks ago. Just positions got totally cleaned up. And now they're starting to kick in, all of them again. The Chinese flow, spec flow, really, really strong. Option activity starting to really pick up. ETF flow really begun. So it's across the board really now that from this very, very clean position, we're starting to have a real run. And I certainly think gold has potential here.
21:41And it helps if the dollar is weak, right, because gold does trade with the dollar. But gold, as we've seen for the last several years, has its own driver as well, right? So I think gold can trade pretty well, even if the dollar is not really in play. You know, the saying, when China's weak, they act strong and vice versa. Do you have an opinion on that, what it looks like right now? Are we getting the real weakness out of China, or is it even bigger than we think? And I'll just throw in a little just yes or no. Do you think the invasion of Taiwan is that on or off the table in the next year or so?
22:16I think China has a plan. They would prefer to gain control over Taiwan in a peaceful way like they did with Hong Kong. So I don't think they're in a rush. I think they're politically maneuvering in the background and making some progress along this long-term plan. So I think that's the more likely scenario.
22:37Karen Finerman:Let's talk about your namesake. So ultimately, the Japanese currency is is caught in between fiscal policy, which is seemingly out of control, which is great for equities and great for the economy. Some view that they don't even care about inflation that they finally have after three decades. Should we be scared? Because we talk about it all the time. I'm just trying to understand this seems like systemic risk personified. Yeah. I think one thing that has really happened in the last couple of weeks that is very, very unusual is that we've started to see the market price in the Bank of Japan rate hike in September.
23:13And the currency just can't benefit from it. It's literally the biggest two-year move we've seen in decades in Japan. And the currency is not moving. So there is some concern about what's going on in the long end that's holding people back. I speak to fixed income investors all around the world. Like, are they buying JGBs? No. Right. So we need to have some kind of reset of policy to get investors any kind of confidence that this is the asset to buy. And we're not there yet. So we need to have the hikes. They've been behind the curve. They need to get ahead of the curve. Right. But that comes before the conference comes back.
23:45So we need to have that sequence.
23:46Tim Seymour:How do they get ahead of the I mean, they're going to hike in September. What else can they do to get it? They've been jawboning. They've been they have a thing with the U.S. I mean, what else can they do here? Just give you an example. Right. We had a meeting in July, and they didn't move, right? But there was nothing priced for that meeting, right? So how can you be a serious central bank that is worried about inflation, and then you've communicated in a way where there's nothing priced for the meeting? That kind of shows what kind of defensive posture they have. They need to get on the front foot and say, we're serious about this issue.
24:20We're going to do something in September, and we're ready to do something more, if needed, at the next meeting. And that communication we just haven't had yet. They need to take that step.
24:29Tim Seymour:Jens, always good to see you. Jens Nordvig, 159. Yeah, they're waiting for Treasury to bail him out, I think. And the flip side of that coin is, listen, Scott Besson understands that there's a problem. Acknowledgement's a good thing. It's what can he do to sort of figure it out. And he has said openly that they're going to do whatever it takes to get this situation under control. But what that takes could be a real sell-off in the equity market. And quite frankly, the Japanese to wake up one day and decide they're going to sell treasuries and equities, that's not going to be a good day to be along the equity market.
24:58And I think that day is coming sooner rather than later.
25:01Karen Finerman:Japan needs coordination. I know it's not supposed to happen, but between their fiscal and their monetary policy, unlike any other time in their history, Takeichi is great for the economy, for fiscal spending, but it's the wrong time. And I would just get back to the conversation we were having before. But long story short, you've got deficits running crazy around the world and they're pulling rates up higher everywhere.
25:22Melissa Lee:You know, back to the China growth thing, it's worth noting that we spent a lot of time talking about 800 billion, maybe a trillion dollars in CapEx here. And what percentage of GDP growth that we're seeing? Well, China, the big four, it's the ByteDance, the Baba, the Baidu and the Tencent. They're expected to spend 100 billion dollars. That's it this year. And so when you think about that, if they were kind of going pedal to the metal like we are, maybe that growth gets going. We know that consumer consumption is really weak. And as Ian just said, that export is the whole thing there. But it is interesting.
25:55Melissa Lee:It's worth noting. We spend so much time debating how much we're spending there over here and what they're doing and what they're being able to create. But you have to think on a relative basis that if they were to spend a few hundred more billion, it would be a better contributor to their growth.
26:08Tim Seymour:There's a lot more fast money to come. Here's what's coming up next. SpaceX cleared for takeoff. Shares jumping as some Wall Street Titans reveal major stakes in the rocket company. But does the rally have enough fuel to stay in orbit? Plus, meta in the hot seat. The landmark social media addiction case heads to trial. What's at stake? And whether the verdict could reshape the social space. You're watching Fast Money, live from the NASDAQ market site in Times Square. We're back right after this.
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27:37Karen Finerman:Spritz Vibe Summer Edition is ready to refresh your routine. Go find your Spritz Vibe before summer ends.
27:46Tim Seymour:Something amazing is happening in animation. Studios are processing data faster. That's because CDW showed them new ways to maximize their infrastructure, then built a flexible Dell Technologies data solution. More automation led to reduced maintenance times and greater efficiency, so that creativity stays the star of the show. Dell Technologies and CDW. Make amazing happen. Learn more at cdw.com slash delldatacenter. Welcome back to Fast Money. Nike is sinking 4 % today for its lowest close since September 2014. Shares have fallen nearly 40 % this year alone and are almost 80 % off the all-time high hit in late 2021.
28:31Tim Seymour:Closely followed retail analyst Matt Boss at J.P. Morgan downgrading the stock earlier this month saying attempts at a turnaround have yet to make their way through the company. I think that was apparent through results. But Tim, what do you make of this low?
28:44Karen Finerman:Well, I will say I actually sold a little bit of Nike in a couple of accounts today because the sense is that I don't think this is going to be getting away from you in terms of catalysts in the near term. North America actually looks a lot better. I think the inventory dynamic, I think a lot of the infrastructure shirt around DTC looks a lot better. I think there's a turn coming. And I think this is one of the world's foremost brands, certainly that in athleisure. But I think the consumer just doesn't need a lot of what they have to sell right now. That's the part of discretionary I worry about.
29:21I think the DTC model that they did probably gave away a lot of that shelf space to Ahoka, Orin, On. And I think they need to sort of reverse that. And that's when you see wholesale was up in North America at 10%, probably stands to the reason they should take back some of that shelf space. They saturated the market with Air Jordans. All the vintage stuff they saturated with because that was where they were only getting the bites from. They still need new blood at the top. Elliott came back, but he's a career Nike guy. Right? So you need somebody. And then you also, they're still spending the same amount of ad dollars, 1.7 billion in North America that they've spent for years.
30:01It's only been ratcheting up. You need to get into the influencer market the same way that everyone else is on social media. The legacy ad campaigns that they're doing just aren't working anymore. Turns out they probably did need stores more than they led you to believe that they did, number one. And competition comes in very quick ways. And when you don't realize it's there, you fall victim to it. And there's a lot of, listen, self-inflicted wounds without question. If there's good news, traded two and a half times normal volume today. So maybe you're seeing signs of capitulation. I don't think they report until September 24th.
30:31So I still think there's downside here.
30:33Tim Seymour:We had an analyst on a while ago on closing bill overtime about Nike, and they're going through sort of globally all the competitors in the local markets. So not just in the United States, but also, let's say, in China. You have Li Ning, and you have a lot of sort of homegrown competitors, things that U.S. investors aren't even thinking about because these are brands that we are not familiar with, But they are real competition in the other markets where Nike is hoping for some growth.
30:57Karen Finerman:Well, there's no question you can get some fashion buzz, Guy, and a pair of sneakers that actually you could probably still, you know, play your racquetball or whatever you do. I mean, I think it's a case where you have some designer sneakers out there or trainers, as they call them, across the pond. And I'm sorry, Guy, you need to probably get in here. First of all, I had a pair of Air Jordans. I had the original Air Jordans. What happened to them? I'll tell you what happened to them. One Halloween when my kids were very little, they asked our nanny at the time, Adriana, who may be watching, to make a scarecrow for Halloween.
31:30Tim Seymour:Oh, she used them as a shoe. She used some of my clothes and my sneakers. Of course, it rained that Halloween and subsequently ruined the Jordans, which would be probably worth a lot of money in today's dollar. Had they not been rained on. Had they not been rained on. Coming up, Metta's Big Tobacco Moment. Could the next major social media addiction case mark a watershed moment for the industry? what it all means for the Instagram parent when Fast Money returns.
32:02Tim Seymour:Welcome back to Fast Money. Stocks lower to kick off the week. The Dow shedding 270 points for its fifth down day in six, while the S &P and Nasdaq posted back-to-back losses. Vista Energy jumping five and a half percent after Peter Thiel's hedge fund disclosed a stake in the Argentine oil producer. Teal Macro reporting it owns 1.2 million of the company's U.S.-listed shares, worth about$76 million at the end of Q2. That's the fund's second largest disclosed position behind Amazon. JetBlue dropping over 7 percent after Seaport downgraded the stock to a neutral from buy. Analysts say the airline could face prolonged high jet fuel costs as the straight of home moves looks unlikely to reopen soon.
32:41Tim Seymour:Constellation Brands falling 6 percent for its worst day since February. Berkshire Hathaway revealing it liquidated its position in the maker of Modelo Beer and Kim Crawford Wine during the second quarter. And Alibaba rising nearly 1 % on reports it is planning to sell its game development business for$1.5 billion as the China tech giant looks to keep funding its pivot into AI. Meanwhile, MetaShare is dropping 3.5 % just a day before the social media giant heads the federal court in the landmark child safety case. Julie Borson's got the details here. Julia. Well, Melissa, this trial is the highest stakes test yet of youth safety allegations against Meta because it's several states coming together for a bellwether case.
33:21A key plaintiff, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, saying ahead of opening arguments tomorrow, quote, exploiting our most vulnerable residents to boost corporate profits is not only morally wrong, it's also illegal. Now, this is just the latest in a slew of lawsuits prompting Meta to report$2.4 billion in legal costs last quarter. And those figures could grow dramatically. Meta is saying in a filing that they think damages from this trial could be as high as$1.4 trillion.
33:48Tim Seymour:The lawyers from the state say they're asking for$200 billion. Now, just as potentially damaging, the states are asking for big changes to Meta's algorithm that could damage its revenue down the line, including eliminating features such as infinite scroll and notifications, asking the court to make Meta prioritize content focused on well-being instead of engagement, asking it to implement age restrictions and time limits for young users. Now, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri are both expected to testify, though, Melissa, we're not sure just when yet. We'll be hearing from them yet.
34:23Back to you.
34:23Tim Seymour:Julia, you were pointing out before that the amount that Meta could say the case could cost versus what the state AGs are saying, it's a huge difference. It's a huge difference. And I think what Meta is trying to do is say this incredibly large amount that they are asking for, which is effectively the same amount as Meta's market cap, is an inappropriate amount of damages given all the efforts that Meta makes to protect kids and teens on their platform. So I think we're going to hear a lot about how their ask, the state AGs' ask is unreasonable. and we'll also probably hear a lot about all the good things that Meta does as part of Meta's defense that we'll hear tomorrow, starting tomorrow.
35:05Tim Seymour:Julia, thank you. Julia Boorstin. Why is this different this time around? We've been through all sorts of different tests of Meta's ethics when it comes to children, when it comes to data privacy, etc. Why is this one doing this to the stock?
35:22Karen Finerman:Well, it does seem to have more momentum in multiple locations. And I do think there's an element here of social media that the public has gotten sick of. I really do. I mean, I think there's there's an if you listen to young people, many of them will tell you. And I think this is if they're if they're living a much healthier life, that it's become much less part of what they're trying to do. Doesn't show in Meta's numbers. I think this is a story you have to listen to. But I will say it doesn't usually stick. It's bipartisan here. It's global. So, yeah, it's clearly a problem. But then you ask yourself, OK, it's off 28 percent-ish from the all-time high.
36:02I think it was this week last year that it traded up to, what, 790 or so. So what is priced in? I mean, you can't really argue with it on valuation. Now you're just concerned with headline risk. But I think you're getting pretty close here just in terms of being able to buy this. You figure the headlines will sort of go away and then people wake up to, wait a second, this is just way too cheap.
36:20Melissa Lee:Yeah, and that's a lesson we've learned over the last 15 years when it comes to these platforms. You know, anytime anyone comes for them, it ends up being, yeah, there's a bunch of hullabaloo, you know, they go in front of Congress or this or whatever. You have all these Congress people who could not be less, you know, I mean, like the questioning, their lack of understanding of these platforms. And maybe that's changed a little bit. But when you think about it, I mean, their revenues keep going up. Their time on the platforms keep going up. Who's that upset about this? It's like, listen, it's not my jam.
36:48Melissa Lee:And I wish that my people, like my kids and everything like that, were not on it. But they're addicted. They've broken our brains. And for many of the folks that are actually bringing their suits, it's the same thing. So, again, I think it's going to be, you know, any damages are not going to be$1.5 trillion or anything like that. And if it's like anything near what their legal fees have been, you know, a couple hundred million here or there, I just think that to Guy's point, I think it probably ends up rallying if it's not as bad as people think. If you look at it, it's had a declining trend line for a year now.
37:19I'm not worried about the damages. I'm worried about if they change the algorithm. And this seems like the most at risk on that side of the equation. So I would wait on buying it, putting new money to work on Meta until you actually see it clear this.
37:31Tim Seymour:Coming up, reaching for the stars, what is behind the latest jump in SpaceX stock and whether the next big share in law could put the rally to the test. Fast Money is back right after this.
37:43As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, CNBC spotlights the companies that rose with the nation and continue to shape its future.
37:54Tim Seymour:I think America is incredible. It's this combination of innovation, optimism, capital formation and talent. I'm Yishan Hung, president and CEO of State Street Investment Management. State Street Investment Management is one of the largest asset managers in the world. I'm incredibly proud to be a part of State Street. This is a company that has a history that is more than 230 years old. When I think about the history of State Street, it very much mirrors the many chapters of America's economic history. We rose through the industrial growth, the rise of the public markets, globalization trends, and today's modern investing environment.
38:40Tim Seymour:I'm a daughter of immigrants and a first-generation American, and my parents came to this country with the belief that education, hard work, and opportunity would create a better future for their children. And it is that belief that has really shaped my entire life. So when I think about the American promise, it's not so much that success is guaranteed, but that opportunities exist and that your starting point doesn't necessarily determine your ultimate destination. This is a country where people believe that tomorrow can be better than today, where people are willing to take risks, solve big problems and invest.
39:21Tim Seymour:And you couple that with one of the deepest and most dynamic capital markets in the world where you have transparency, rule of law, All together, I think this is what makes our environment here, our financial markets so exciting.
39:46Tim Seymour:We've got a news alert on a potential stake sale for the L.A. Lakers. Alex Sherman's got the details. Alex. Yeah, so some breaking news here, Melissa. About 90 minutes ago, ESPN broke the story that the Buss family is selling its minority share stake to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, who, of course, last week bought the majority or agreed to buy the majority of the Lakers from Mark Walter. However, CNBC has obtained a letter from the attorney for Jeannie Buss. Jeannie Buss is the governor of the Lakers and the controlling shareholder of the team. I want to read the first paragraph of this letter. This letter is from Jeannie Buss' attorney addressed to the attorneys of her siblings.
40:34It says, as you know, this afternoon, Shams Charania, who's the reporter for ESPN, falsely reported that the six Buss siblings voted to sell the 17.8 % ownership stake in the Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, and that my client Jeannie Buss is out as controlling owner. This is just the latest instance of a years-long pattern whereby Joey and Jesse Buss leak false, defamatory, and pernicious information to Mr. Charania for the malicious purpose of doing harm to the Los Angeles Lakers, so long as Dr. Buss's chosen successor Jeannie Buss carries out her father's wishes. The letter goes on to make the case that Jeannie Buss is not in favor of the sale of the team and that her controlling ownership should trump any sort of majority vote that the siblings may or may not make because of a 2017 ruling where the court basically affirmed Jeannie Buss as the controlling owner.
41:31There's still, we've yet to hear a response, of course, is that we're just getting this letter for the first time from the Buss siblings in response to this letter. But what we can at least tell you is that Jeannie Buss is clearly not for a sale. People familiar with the matter have told me she's not for a sale. She believes that there is still more value to be gained in the Lakers by holding on to the to the minority stake that the Buss family currently owns. All right.
42:01Tim Seymour:Complicated story, Alex. Thanks for breaking it down. Alex Sherman is developing story here. Now let's get to SpaceX firing on all cylinders to start the week. Elon Musk's rocket company surging four and a half percent today. After the latest 13-net filing showed some big buys in the second quarter, Alphabet disclosing the biggest stake, more than 500 million shares worth about$94 billion. NVIDIA reporting a$21 billion position. Harvard and AMD also reporting significant stakes. So interesting to see who's getting involved in the latest quarter. These are not necessarily long-time holds.
42:34Karen Finerman:Well, if this was if this was, again, SpaceX, the private company, none of this. It's not that surprising to hear about where there are investments and significant ones by other companies and private investors. I would just bring it back to the second quarter numbers. I don't think SpaceX is worth the sum of the parts right now. I think the view is that, like we've been talking about with other companies like Anthropic, the annual run rate is very impressive when you look at those second quarter numbers. And they were across all three segments. So I think the numbers were strong enough. But let's make no mistake.
43:08Karen Finerman:If we're back in the free fall that got the whole part of that world bouncing on July 29th, SpaceX would not be bouncing now if the rest of the world in AI and memory was not bouncing. I think it was a huge short squeeze as well. So you had an over 30 percent short interest in the stock. It was trading at$104,$105, down from$225. You have a who's who of who owns the stock right now. You have another unlock coming in the next couple of days. Not as big. It's a third of the last one. But everyone was afraid of that one. So you have to have the shorts back out to get another real run in it. But I think people want to own the name right now.
43:43Tim Seymour:Dan wasn't afraid. You were not afraid. You said it would bounce.
43:46Melissa Lee:Yeah, and it bounced because the sentiment got so bad. I mean, here's my takeaway from this and all those disclosures. I mean, they're all in it together. It's not just the circular financing. It's not just the deals with each other. It's like all the frenemy stuff. And now let's just own each other's stock. You know, that sort of thing. It's just when this goes wrong, it has the potential to really snowball in many different ways.
44:08Tim Seymour:Coming up. I was going to say, well, what I was going to say was, before the show, Tim, Melissa was saying that Elgin Baylor was her favorite Los Angeles Laker. Which I really found fascinating.
44:19Karen Finerman:Well, I thought she would have gone with like a Jamal Silk Wilkes or a Mitch Kupchak or possibly a Michael Cooper or a Rambis.
44:26Tim Seymour:There's too much to talk about here. Sorry. Coming up, we're hammering down on home improvement, Home Depot and Lowe's earnings on deck. What to expect from the Retailer's Report and the other key housing data to watch this week. More Fast Money in two.
44:44Tim Seymour:Welcome back to Fast Money. Retail earnings season kicks off tomorrow with Home Depot before the bell shares up nearly 14 percent in the last three months. The report as the housing sector remains plagued by affordability concerns. The August reading of builder sentiment showing just a small uptick from the prior month. stubbornly high mortgage rates, obviously a huge factor in Home Depot's underperformance relative to the markets. Bouncing into earnings, but I mean, it's been an underperformer now for a year and a half or so. I mean, I don't think you can look valuation wise 21 times. I don't think it's unreasonable given where it's been historically.
45:18I think the problem is interest rates are going higher and I think the labor market is deteriorating. So it's hard to be bullish in the home builders at this point, I think.
45:26Tim Seymour:And the CEO's on medical leave, so there's another sort of element of uncertainty to the story.
45:31Karen Finerman:Yeah, I just believe that we don't know the dynamics around margin. They've gotten a little bit worse. We know the home equity market is something that's at least more pressure than ever. I just think also they've run into price increases across core products that are unsustainable for a lot of people. So I like the stock at 300. I don't have to buy it here.
45:52Tim Seymour:All right. Up next, final trades.
46:01Karen Finerman:final trade time timbo alibaba valuation makes sense a lot of cash in the balance sheet and guess what also an ai play the uri united rentals had a beat and raise last two quarters i think it has more juice dan yeah tim i don't think you chase work day okay but i think where there's
46:17Melissa Lee:smoke there's fire and i don't chase a thing don't chase you know actually byron scott's Melissa said you were her favorite lake of all time. Arizona. Agnico Eagle Mines, Melms.
46:31Tim Seymour:Thanks for watching Fast Money, Mad Money with Jim Kramer starts right now.
46:52expressed on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of an opinion. Such opinions are based upon information the Fast Money participants consider reliable, but neither CNBC nor its affiliates and or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. To view the full Fast Money disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com forward slash Fast Money disclaimer.
47:13Karen Finerman:Most ice cream is good, but not Jenny's. Jenny's ice cream is more like an obsession. What you get from over two decades of tasting and tweaking and throwing it out and starting over, chasing flavors until they feel alive. That might sound crazy, and that's because it is. Jenny's. Often imitated, never duplicated, always splendid.
From the publisher
Storage stocks lead the semi rally as Trump administration officials look to steer Apple away from Chinese chips. The traders debate the health of the AI trade amid new commentary from leaders of OpenAI and Anthropic. Then, Vanda’s Jens Nordvig explains how prolonged dollar weakness could send gold prices surging. Plus, the countdown to Meta’s child safety trial, Nike stumbles to 12-year lows and how to trade home improvement stocks into earnings.
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